OpenSignal Mobile Networks Report is Out and T-Mobile Cleaned House

You are probably going to hear a lot from T-Mobile today, thanks to good news out of the latest OpenSignal “State of the Mobile Networks” report for August 2017. The Uncarrier managed to sweep the awards that are handed out for categories like download speed over 4G, 4G latency, and 4G availability. The report talks a lot about T-Mobile’s growth, but also the slowdown that Verizon and AT&T have seen since launching unlimited plans in recent months.

OpenSignal’s report measured over 5 billion data points from 170K+ devices (OpenSignal users) from the end of March to the end of June. They took all of that data to measure some of those items I mentioned above, but also broke it down to the city level, aka the 32 largest US markets to see how carriers faired there as well. Again, T-Mobile pretty much cleaned house in those areas as well.

Surprised? Let’s look at some of the big takeaways.

For one, the re-introduction of unlimited data by AT&T and Verizon certainly helped T-Mobile get to this point. As T-Mobile has suggested for months, those other networks may not be built for excessive load of a bunch of customers with unlimited data. OpenSignal’s data shows that since their last report, Verizon’s 4G and overall speeds dropped by 12%. AT&T dropped less than that, but still dropped. T-Mobile and Sprint both saw increases during that time, and keep in mind that T-Mobile is constantly adding customers while that increase is happening.

One of the better stats I saw was the 4G availability metric, which OpenSignal says “measures the proportion of time a user can connect to a particular network.” So they are saying that T-Mobile customers were able to connect to 4G more than any other carrier (90% of the time). Verizon was right behind it at 89.8%. Do understand that they aren’t saying that in rural Montana you are going to be connecting to T-Mobile 4G more than you would be Verizon. They are saying that T-Mobile customers, who are in T-Mobile covered areas, were connecting to 4G more often. That make sense? Still, that’s good news for T-Mobile.

And finally, in the city-by-city analysis, OpenSignal says that it’s a 2-way battle between Verizon and T-Mobile. Their numbers show that these two essentially match each other for performance (both 4G download speed and availability) in the biggest markets. In the 32 markets they examined, T-Mobile or Verizon either ranked highest or tied for first place. Poor Sprint and AT&T.

So what should you take away? Well, T-Mobile, as we talked about just a few weeks ago, has an ever-improving network that should be grabbing your attention at this point. It’s faster than the others, performs better in cities, and should only get stronger as T-Mobile lights up all that new spectrum over the next couple of years. Let’s just hope they stay the Uncarrier and don’t take these successes only to become another carrier.

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Did any of you click on the link and read the highlights? This one I find very interesting if I’m reading it right. Doesn’t this mean you can actually get LTE in MORE PLACES with Tmobile than Verizon? That’s HUGE!! Verizon always claimed to have the Largest network. This would mean that’s no longer true.

T-Mobile surpasses Verizon in LTE availability

T-Mobile
edged out Verizon in our 4G availability metric, but it was a very close
call. Our testers were able to find a 4G signal on T-Mobile 90.9% of
the time compared to 89.8% of the time on Verizon.

DanG

Not only that, both AT&T and VZW speeds got slower right after their introductions of ULD plans.

kervation

Look, I’m not a fan of any of the big carriers. But if you were to swap subscriber numbers with any of the four major players, you would see similar results. Subscriber density affects performance.

I wish these carriers would stop selling bogus stats. Add 146 million subs each to T-Mobile and Verizon while wiping 40 percent off the rolls for AT&T and Sprint and see how the latter would fare.

Sprint & AT&T would walk all over the other two in terms of performance.

Again, I do not care who wins or loses (they are all gouging us anyway), just tired of hearing about the network performance when we know the reason why.

cromo8

Well T-Mobile has had faster speeds in San Diego than VZW for maybe 6 years now. Worked for both carriers and had both phones. T-Mobile always worked and had the fastest speeds. Too bad T-Mobile did not work at my house.

Roman reigns can’t wrestle

Tmobile can brag all they want but when you are roaming on a 2g connection on interstate 80 in Iowa… Your speeds don’t mean sh#t haha

Yes I pay more for my Verizon service but as a truck driver I need service in places you often wouldn’t think would even have coverage and Verizon rarely let’s me down

DanG

Different people, different needs. I’m much happier with T-Mo than VZW.

Steven Scharf

A truck driver or an RVer would never use T-Mobile of course, because they need more ubiquitous coverage. But for those people that stay in urban areas, it works okay. I had it for three months in 2015, but the lack of coverage in California, outside urban areas, was not something I was willing to accept since we often went on road trips down I-5, or to Yosemite and along CA 4, where you can see on the T-Mobile coverage maps that they have no coverage.

Steven Scharf

As long as you never leave urban areas T-Mobile is fine. If you ever travel through, or to, rural areas, you want Verizon or AT&T.

JakeS41

Absolutely incorrect. There will of course be certain areas where one carrier out does the other – but this type of blanket statement is categorically false.

Steven Scharf

It’s not false, at least in the western U.S.. Just look at the coverage maps!

teebone

Tcrapo will never top Verizon until they get out to rural areas. All of southwest Wisconsin from Lacrosse WI down to Dubuque IA, there is NO service!!! So yeah I disagree with these findings.

MJ

Seriously, how many times are you going to type this comment? This findings are for across the WHOLE US NOT just your small neck of the woods but thanks for your LOCAL on-site report. LOL

teebone

Hey, when you’re talking about the whole lover 3rd of a state, that’s a lot of people, hundreds of thousands believe it or not! Lacrosse WI has around 52 thousand, Dubuque, Iowa, 58 thousand and other towns in the lower 3rd of Wisconsin! And when you travel the majority of that part of the state like I do, t-crapo is crap!!!! Once they catch up then they can talk smack!!!

MJ

Holy replying 15 days later and still missing the whole point Batman!

teebone

I’m not missing the point at all, I believe you’re missing the point good sir!! My point is t-crapo suuucks and need to get more service where VZW currently has it in all of 2/3rd’s of southwest wisconsin where I reside and frequent along with other places they are not that VZW is. Yeah I don’t always get on here, too busy lol 🙂

MJ

Confirmed you missed the point of the article and my comment.

teebone

nope lol

Cael

I’ve experienced the drop in Verizon’s speeds and I don’t like it.

tnt

I’ve looked at switching back to T-Mobile to try them out again (first time in 2+ years). We only have two lines. The irony is I get confused every time I try to go to their website and figure out what I want… maybe it’s too simple for me? Or I’m too simple?

Chris Dartois

The wife and I have been on AT&T for about 5 years now in Los Angeles, and we’re dumping it once the Note8/V30s come out. We constantly have capacity issues whenever we’re in an area that has more than 50 people. The signal shows full bars of LTE, or HSPA, but we cannot connect to anything. Phone and TXT services don’t work either, it’s beyond frustrating.

tnt

That’s a valid point – I have noticed slow-downs in congested areas. I live in one of AT&T’s strongest regions, so it’s probably even worse in other areas…

drcaveman

In May I got a text message from T-Mobile saying the network was being upgraded in my work area Yonkers NY, my Gear S2 would only get 2G service as a result, but my phone’s would get substantially better network coverage. It’s true I went from no LTE only HSPDA at work to full LTE coverage and network speeds are in the Middle 30s up and down. A week ago I got the same text message about my home area in Manhattan, and since then my network speeds at least on my S8+ are hovering just around the 100Mbps up and down mark. So TMobile is definitely rapidly improving. I’m traveling to rural Vermont mid August let see how network coverage is there.

ck125

Easy to claim your network can handle it when you have half the customers verizon does.

teebone

Yep and look at a map of southwest wisconsin to dubuque ia, tcrapo has NO SERVICE!!!!! The map is totally white, compared to VZW, mostly red!!!

MJ

Well, this is certainly going to make my choice easy if I decide to change my carrier. I must have coverage in Southwest Wisconsin to Dubuque, IA.

Wait… No, I don’t.

teebone

Yeah that part of wisci I am in 7 days a week so t-mobile won’t work for me. I’d give them a try if they expanded their coverage!

Larinx

I have yet to go to an area where tmobile doesnt cover and i travel a lot. Everytime people talk about rural areas without coverage i imagine its gotta suck living in this places and not just because of the lack of coverage

soccerburn55

I always wonder that. When people say in my area, they never specify. So I wonder if they haven’t used T-Mobile in a few years, or are just as Kellen has said before in the middle of Wyoming. I’ve driven from OKC to Denver, OKC to San Antonio and I think there was 1 spot in between OKC and Dallas that I lost data. The rest of the trip 4G.

Chris Hannan

Using my pro-level detective skills, I’m going to assume you live in OKC…

soccerburn55

Your deductive reasoning is impeccable, but I actually live in in Detroit.

Chris Hannan

Well that was my second guess, so still impressive I’d say.

brewcrew87

Well southwest Wisconsin is still awful for pretty much every carrier not named Verizon or US Cellular. I happen to live only 20 minutes northwest of the state capital and my only real options are Verizon, USCC, and Sprint…

B!

Vossburg & Heidleburg, MS where my mother-in-law is from. Verizon works best, followed by AT&T & then whoever the local provider is. And yes it does suck there. Feels like I’m going back in time. The only thing that’s missing is stagecoaches & revolvers.

disastrousrainbow

The Midwest is where they have a lot of work to do. Areas like Nebraska and the surrounding areas/states which (contrary to popular belief) make up millions of subscribers. While T-Mobile has decent coverage in the more populated areas (Omaha metro in this case with a million or so people), going west from there gets sketchy as hell, and there’s straight up dead zones along I-80 between these towns and cities.

Meanwhile, with Verizon I’m on 4G service in even the most remote areas of the country, and that’s why I can’t invest in T-Mobile. There may be some areas where T-Mobile manages to excel Verizon for whatever reason, but I’ve tried every carrier and Verizon’s the only one that I got service in small towns like Genoa, Nebraska to huge ones like New York City. T-Mobile just doesn’t have that kind of clout yet.

The Doctor

Yeah, TMo doesn’t have good coverage in rural areas. I’d rather stay on a congested network and get slower data speeds than go on TMo and get no data in rural areas.

MagicMiguel

I gave T-Mo a try feeling the same way as you and to my surprise, I’ve had great coverage in every rural place I’ve been to (and I travel a lot). I heard this a lot, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s no longer the case. Their network seems pretty solid everywhere I go, which is awesome because I’m saving a lot of money now too!

SlyKrysis

It is no longer the case. People who continue to say that T-Mobile sucks in rural areas either haven’t tried them, or don’t know that other carriers also suck in that specific area. I’ve been to the parks in northern Maine on Verizon with my old HTC Inc2 and got no signal, yet people bash T-Mo because they also don’t get signal. I’ve yet to find an area rural enough where I don’t get signal on Fi (which uses T-Mobile towers).

Chris

It still is the case, it just depends on where you live. My girlfriend is on T-Mobile and constantly doesn’t have service. Pretty much any time we go on the highway she loses service completely, and sometimes in a neighborhood not that far from the city she loses service. I have not yet lost service in any of these areas, and I’m on Cricket. T-Mobile has definitely improved their network greatly, but in some places, it’s still not good enough.

Gordon Spurgeon Spooner

Sadly, central VA has a great big hole in T-Mobile coverage, in an area where I travel regularly. Sprint and Verizon have coverage there along the highways, but nothing for T-Mo.

I’m considering switching anyway, because Sprint’s network is so unbearably slow, and I would never consider paying for Verizon, but it wouldn’t be without compromise.

TC Infantino

I have Verizon and a couple of my friends have T-Mobile. There are plenty of places here in PA that I have fair to strong signal and they can’t pull any data. So there is still some truth to T-mobile’s rural lacking.

disastrousrainbow

Here’s the deal though, isn’t this to be expected considering there’s far less people on T-Mobile than Verizon? Isn’t it like comparing speed and congestion of cars on an eight lane highway in, I dunno, Omaha, Nebraska versus an eight lane highway in New York City? Or is that analogy not right because of the way OpenSignal does their testing or something?

JakeS41

You probably shouldn’t factor in that just a few years ago, T-Mobile looked like they could very easily be on the way out as a carrier altogether, yet here they are not only creating change in the industry, but also growing by a million+ subscribers every quarter while also improving network speeds and coverage. Give them a little credit where credit is due here.

Verizon has consistently touted the largest network, most subscribers, etc….and yet the advantages they once had are quickly disappearing. Here’s a fact…If they continue doing business they way they are, while T-Mobile continues to be aggressive and innovate – Verizon will be toppled as #1. It won’t be tomorrow, but it will happen. Many tech companies that were “King of the World” are now an obscurity because they didn’t give that little business nobody heard about any credit.

ck125

I hope verizon is toppled, then they can go back to actually caring about the customer and working to regain being #1

JakeS41

Competition is always a good thing!

ck125

Exactly. Love the pressure T-Mo has put on the other carriers. Great for we as the consumers.

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disastrousrainbow

I’m not discrediting any of T-Mobile’s strides, nor am I jumping on their D either because for all the gains they’ve made with certain things, like all carriers they’ve done some shady stuff too, so it’s not all unicorns, hugs, and rainbows. What I AM saying is that results like this aren’t just point blank dot com dot org dot c-o dot uk when it comes to which network is better, especially when you take into account subscriber base, coverage, etc., plus at the end of the day the results (.2 percent) isn’t amazingly drastic enough for the eventual barrage of shade T-Mobes will more than likely throw Verizon’s way.

MrOrange645

Number of subscribers aside, the point is T-Mobile has improved their Network despite gaining a large market share and adding millions of subscribers. Verizon has FAILED to do what T-Monike has done, and that is keep up with their user base.

There’s definitely something to that, but that doesn’t change anything either. If given the choice between Omaha or NYC congestion for the same commute, which would you choose?

BBQnBEER

The number of customers isn’t me problem that’s a Verizon problem. Would it be acceptable to you if your network performance sucked and you called to complain and their answer was “well we have twice as many customers.” The tests are comparing actual results from real life customers, that’s exactly the kind of data us customers want to know.

rebretz000

Not surprised by the results. Verizon’s coverage and data speed in my area has been going downhill steadily for the last 3 years while T-Mobile’s has improved dramatically. I don’t even live in a metro area. A small city east of Pittsburgh surrounded by farmland.

Phuq_Me

T-Mobile is a distant third in my area according to Opensignal’s own maps. Verizon is #1 by a landslide. Once again using Opensignal’s maps.

Yup, not every location is the same. Some places TMo is an absolutely terrible choice. In other places, VZW is an absolutely terrible choice. These awards are for the big picture trends. Unfortunately, some of us little guys get left behind and aren’t represented by these big-picture trends.